Generation Dead, by Daniel Waters

A goth cheerleader is an unlikely combination, and the book's cover suggests a sardonic commentary on teen social life and trendy vampirism, yet Generation Dead is more concerned with bullying behavior and society's attitudes towards marginalized people.  

In this novel, dead teens return to "normal" life but face fear, suspicion and hate from most people.  Self-help groups co-exist with scientific laboratories in the attempt to bridge the alternative undead or "living impaired" with the living, while conspiratorial government agencies and vigilantes undermine their progress with violence and murder.  Yes, the dead can die again, without the ability to return to life.

Teen friendships, a romantic triangle, and confronting bullying are major themes and plot points, yet, the most intriguing questions of what happens to a person between life and death, or why only dead teens are returned to life are not adequately answered.  Perhaps author, Daniel Waters will delve further into life/death issues in the next sequel to Generation Dead.

A Brief Review of The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

In a dystopian world of authoritarian brutality, young adults, ages 12-18, are annually conscripted to compete in a game of survival.  Each district of twelve in the post apocalyptic North American country, Panem, randomly select one boy and one girl as “tributes”, who must kill or be killed before the single survivor can be the winner.

Katniss Everdeen, age 16, is a hunter from the poorest district, 12, and she is also the main provider for her mother and younger sister, Prim.  Volunteering to replace Prim, selected for the games and certain to die if she participates, Katniss is paired with Peeta, the town baker’s shy son.  Together, Katniss and Peeta defy the odds against their survival and achieve a tradition-breaking status as winners, achieved primarily through cunning, skill, love and devotion.

Katniss struggles to hide her emotions, while deftly fighting and surviving dangerous threats and enemies.  Her ability to love selflessly and romantically, however, insures her survival.  The severity of her world makes romance unlikely and frivolous, and the Gamemakers use the romance between Katniss and Peeta to minimize the brutality and oppression of Panem.  When romance becomes a bargaining chip for survival, despite its original source in innocent love and devotion, Katniss must remove herself from the security and safety of romantic love and redefine her role as winner or subverter of the “hunger games”.

Brute strength, wealth, and a desire to kill are not rewarded in this year’s Hunger Games, yet, danger continues to lurk after the winning ceremony.  Katniss threatens the government’s control through her subtle acts of subversion and the book’s open-ended conclusion suggests a future confrontation against the powerful Panem government may occur in a sequel.

Quick Impressions of Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, is an exciting YA novel pitting the impassioned and romantic computer gamer/hacker, Marcus, against the terrorizing power and force of the U.S. government's Homeland Security Department.

Marcus and his cybergaming friends are imprisoned by the HSD following an attack that destroys one of San Francisco's Bay area bridges.  As the feds clamp down on freedom of speech and privacy, Marcus resists these restrictions through clever underground cyber tactics and appeals to youth and citizen justice.

The fictional basis of this story contains many truths and author, Doctorow, includes statements from both a security technologist and a professed hacker, to promote the Bill of Rights and rights to privacy on the Internet.   Although particular styles of music and XBox games may eventually date this novel, its underlying premise of harnessing technology for good and for evil; and the compromises our post 9-11 world must make between justice, liberty and security offer probing research and discussion questions for the high school reader.